


room for one more troubled soul

by lightinthedarkness



Category: The Wonderful 101
Genre: Forgiveness, Gen, Late Night Conversations, Working Out Some Emotions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-08
Updated: 2021-03-08
Packaged: 2021-03-14 05:35:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,355
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29912202
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lightinthedarkness/pseuds/lightinthedarkness
Summary: Rebuilding after the Third Earth Defense War is going smoothly all things considered. The Wonderful Ones have even found time to celebrate their recent victory...Well, all but one Wonder Blue.
Relationships: There's like....a bit of Red/Blue if you squint but this is mostly Gen, Will Wedgewood & Eliot Hooker





	room for one more troubled soul

Under normal circumstances, Eliot Hooker considered himself a man that loved to party, especially if a party was a celebration for stopping invaders who had terrorized his home planet for forty years (and included his revenge against one of the invaders in particular).

So then why was he feeling like total crap? Why did his chest still feel so tight, a constant reminder of events long ago? 

With a sigh, he leaned against the fence surrounding the rooftop. While said party was going on only a few floors below him, he needed the fresh and cool air against him more. He turned to look through the fence at Blossom City’s skyline. The city was looking a whole lot better compared to only a few weeks ago, with construction replacing what was once destruction and ruin.

Another sigh and Eliot thought he was ready to head back down when the rooftop’s door creaked open. Despite it being well into the night, the city lights practically glowed against Wonder Red’s...or well, Will Wedgewood’s blonde hair.

Will looked around, only to yelp in surprise once his gaze locked onto Eliot, which caused the latter to snort out laughter.

“Dude, c’mon it’s just me,” laughter bubbled out of his reassurance.

A moment passed before Will stepped onto the roof and shut the door behind him, “So-so-sorry about that,” he stuttered out, “I just figured no one else would be here.”

Eliot shrugged, “Sorry to disappoint ya bro.”

“N-n-no you didn’t,” he took a deep breath, twiddling with his fingers. Silence lingered between the two until, “I just...really needed to get out of there for a bit.” He sighed.

“Ivan started taking off his clothes again didn’t he?” Eliot had been in far too many parties with the Russian bodybuilder, and more than enough to know what happened when things got wild.

Though the glasses hid most of Will’s eyes, Eliot nearly died of laughter at how they widened, “Again?” the question was half stutter, half shock.

“Dude likes to flex,” he leaned back against the fence once more, sliding down until he was seated on the concrete roof, “It’s gonna be a bit before he gets restrained,” he patted the empty space next to him, “Wanna join me?”

He hesitated, staring at Eliot for several moments. Couldn’t really blame him, even though Red and Blue managed to patch things up during the invasion, there was still...tension between them.

But then Will gave him a nod and joined him against the fence, letting out a long, exhausted sigh as he sat down. The two sat in silence for several minutes, only the sound of city life below keeping them company. 

Though silent, Eliot’s head was buzzing, thoughts and questions ricocheting in his mind and a desire to take advantage of the opportunity before him. 

“So...uh...can I ask you something?” His mind finally settled on the question. The hesitation in his voice felt so foreign, the mere idea of the lone wolf putting thought into his words an oddity in and of itself.

It must have been equally strange to Will, as he raised an eyebrow, “Sure.” Nonetheless, he answered with the confidence befitting of his position.

Said confidence made Eliot feel all the more off. Dude...really trusted him, didn’t he? Even after everything.

“When we saw Laambo at the stadium…” Again, far more thought was being put into this question than Eliot normally cared to use (in other words, any thought at all), “You didn’t go after him...why?”

“For the tea-”

“Was it just for the team?” He tried to mask his irritation, but it hung in his words all the same, “He killed your dad! And you’re telling me you didn’t feel anything?”

Silence followed his outburst. Eliot sighed, annoyed at himself for pushing the matter too far.

“Did Nelson tell you?” Will asked after a moment had passed.

“Yeah…”

The moments ticked by, “Can I ask why you would want to know?”

Will’s tone reminded Eliot of their last fight with Vorkken, while the soft anger was gone, there was an eerie calm to his voice, an unintended warning. Be careful with your words Blue. 

Eliot groaned and rested his head against the fence. He just knew Will would ask that…Moments ticked into seconds, the cracks only deepening...

“Because I don’t know what to do,” and with that, the dam broke, “Ever since we killed Vijounne I don’t know what I’m supposed to do now…” 

His fists balled up against his pants, “She’s the whole reason I even joined this team and now...I dunno dude I’m just…”

“Tired?” Will had kept silent until that moment, listening intently, “If I had to guess you feel tired…”

“Yeah…” 

Silence surrounded the two for some time, only the city life below them filling the noise.

“I would be lying…” Will’s soft voice broke through, a gentle tap against the tension in the air, “I would be lying if I said I didn’t...feel something when we finished off Laambo,” his eyes stared at the floor under them, glazed over as if remembering the moment in question, “I wasn’t trying to land the final blow… I wasn’t the only person he had hurt and so long as the statue and city were safe it hardly mattered…” 

Another pause. Years of training could tell Eliot when someone was thinking of what to say, or better yet how to say what they were feeling.

“The fact that it was me though,” Will continued before removing his glasses. The two locked eyes for a moment, curious sky blue looking into stormy cerulean, “It felt...like a weight I thought was gone had truly lifted from me…” He rubbed the bridge of his nose, “But, I think I felt different from how you feel now because...in all honesty, I forgave Laambo a long time ago.”

That was the comment that rose Eliot’s eyebrow, “Wait what?”

“I know what you’re thinking, and it does sound crazy,” Will raised a hand in defense, “Forgiveness or not, Laambo needed to be stopped no matter what-”

“That’s not the point dude!” Eliot turned from his sitting position to more of a crouch, staring Will directly in the eye, “Why would you do that?”

The idea of forgiving Vijounne?? Absolutely not. Even decades later the wound she left felt raw against his heart.

Will stared at him, slowly blinking at his response, “I...it wasn’t for him...it was never for him,” he began to explain, “After my father passed I felt so angry. At Laambo...at myself…” a deep breath, a note of parts best left out. Will’s body shook as he exhaled, “One day I just decided that I had had enough, I was tired of being angry and just tired in general,” a bitter laugh left him, “So while trying to figure out how to fix myself, I realized that my anger at Laambo and at myself were connected and that maybe if I stopped hating Laambo…” another pause, “I could stop hating myself…”

Eliot pulled himself away from his crouching position, leaning once more against the fence as he processed everything Will had just said. Even as the fresh wounds gnawed at his heart, Eliot could also feel his respect for the man next to him.

Silence washed over them once more, but something about it felt...calmer, as if the tension surrounding them had evaporated in only a few words.

“Do you...think you could teach me how to do that?” Any remaining bravado Eliot had was gone, his voice sounding drained despite only listening.

Will looked to him, eyebrow raised, “What do you mean-”

“Not right now,” Eliot interrupted, “I can’t right now dude. But soon...I’d like to try it...that whole forgiveness thing.”

In the corner of his eye, he could see Will’s face softening with a smile, “It won’t be easy.” Was his only response

Eliot turned to him, his own smirk starting to form as he embraced this new, lighter feeling in his chest, “Dude, is anything ever easy for us?”

**Author's Note:**

> Hey so....Wonderful 101 is like one of my favorite games of all time and I love Red and Blue so I really wanted to write something for them. The game also gave me A LOT of things to work with emotionally and like, you don't go to Platinum Games for Deep Conversation (Cept Automata but that's a different story entirely) but so help me if I didn't wanna try it out for these two. Hope you enjoyed my little contribution to this tag~! Title comes from Fall Out Boy's "Alone Together".


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